


Navigating a New Path

by ThatArtsyHoe



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Oblivious Aang (Avatar), Other, POV Zuko (Avatar), Panic Attacks, Stubborn Katara (Avatar), Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), lots of angst because why the fuck not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26256151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatArtsyHoe/pseuds/ThatArtsyHoe
Summary: This is basically just Zuko trying to fit in and find his place in the Gaang while dealing with his own trauma :)
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko, but it's subtle and kind of besides the point
Comments: 74
Kudos: 458





	1. Zuko's First Day

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 2am and thought it would be cool to upload? It kinda sucks though but this is chapter 1 of a kinda corny fanfic.

Yes! Cried Zuko in his head. The avatar and his friends had finally accepted him into their group! Well, sort of. He could tell that none of them really trusted him yet, despite his attempts to stop the assassin he sent after the avatar. That was understandable though, as only a few months back, Zuko had tracked the avatar and his friends all over the world, trying to capture him. He wasn't proud of it. The Important thing was though, that they were giving him a chance. A chance to redeem himself and teach the avatar firebending. At the end of the day, that was good enough for him.

Zuko followed the water tribe boy into a room in the air temple. It was clear that things were more than just a bit awkward between them, as the boy kept sputtering words out, trying to break the tension. Zuko gave a small smile back as he unloaded his things, trying to make it clear that he was, in fact, listening. He seemed to be receptive to the gesture and backed out of the room. 

Zuko continued to unpack the rest of his things, which he now realized, were pretty limited. He had brought a change of clothes, his Dual Dao Swords, the pearl dagger Uncle Iroh had given to him, along with a picture of him. As he carefully slid everything out of his pack, his eyes strayed on the picture. Regret immediately filled him, and he stared longingly at it. He could feel his eyes begin to well up. He should have never betrayed him, never went back to Azula, never went back to the fire nation. His heart sank when he saw the water tribe girl step into the doorway. 

Zuko quickly managed to push away the picture and stand up again, putting his guard back up that had been taken down ever so carefully at the sight of his beloved Uncle. He stared into her cold blue eyes for a split second before she started talking to him. 

“You might have everyone else here buying your… transformation, but you and I both know you’ve struggled doing the right thing in the past.” Zuko took a physical gulp for air at the sound of her cold voice. She took a few steps closer to him so that she was now almost face to face with him. His heart rate went up as if he had just watched a horror movie in the middle of the night on a full moon. The little blind girl who said she could hear heartbeats was probably surprised right now. “So let me tell you something, right now. You take one step backward, one slip up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won’t have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I’ll make sure your destiny ends right then and there, permanently.” She stepped back away from him and left the room. 

Well, that was something. Zuko wasn’t sure what to say. Or what to feel or how to act. He concluded, though, that he was going to stay out of the water tribe girl’s way as much as he could. 

******************************************************

“Katara says it’s time to eat dinner. You should come sit with us around the campfire,” said the blind girl with a smile as she came into Zuko’s room. 

“Oh, uh, yeah sure, I’m coming. Oh, uh- by the way, I never really got your name..?” Wow, that was awkward. Way to go, Zuko. 

“Oh, right, my name is Toph. I’m the tough one around here who likes to get into fights with Sweetness.” Sweetness? That was probably the other girl. Zuko followed as she walked outside. 

*****************************************************

“Ooh, we should do an introduction for you, sparky!” She said now that they were sitting down by the fire with bowls of soup in hand with the rest of the group. 

“Yeah, because after tracking us all over the world for months, you still don’t even know our names.” Katara scoffed. Zuko just looked at her with weary eyes. 

“Anyways, as you already know, I'm Toph, the tough one around here,” Toph started again. Zuko turned his head away from them, angling so that his right ear was facing them, and his gaze was in a different direction. “The grouchy one is Katara, she’s basically our mom at this point.” Katara just rolled her eyes. “That’s Sokka,” she probably pointed to the water tribe boy, “the meat and sarcasm guy, and you’ve probably heard us yell at Aang enough times to know that that’s his name,” she finished. Zuko gave a nod of approval, only looking in their direction once he was sure they were finished talking. “And lastly, this is Teo, Haru, and The Duke.”

“Look, he’s not even listening!” Cried Katara to the group. She sent a hateful glare his way.

“I’m listening!” He shot back as he sat up a little taller, maybe a bit too harshly. “I just want to make sure I can hear you clearly,” he said a little softer this time. He went back to his slightly slouched position. 

“Wait… what?” Sokka gave him a confused look.

“The scar? I can’t really see or hear as well on the left side of my face than on my right. So sometimes I have to shift a bit to hear people better.” He looked down. Shoot. He had just told the group one of his largest weaknesses on the first day of knowing them. Now, if they decided to turn on him, they had the upper hand and could do it easily.

“Oh” was all Sokka could say to that. The rest of the gang just looked at him with eyebrows raised, Katara being the exception. Zuko muttered an excuse about having to clean his Dual Swords and got up from the campfire, and back into his room. 

“Well I didn’t know that,” said Aang while scratching his head once Zuko was out of earshot. 

“How did he even get that scar?” Sokka asked.

“Probably a training accident,” said Katara unconvinced. “Or no, wait, maybe he’ll give you a ridiculous sob story like at Ba Sing Se,” she said bitterly. She wasn’t ever going to let that go, was she? 

“Whatever it is, don’t press it. I can tell he gets nervous talking about it. His heart rate went way too high for my liking when he had to explain it,” said Toph. She could hear a “why do you even care” from Katara before she got up to go back to her room, scowling. The group slowly dispersed to go to sleep under the stars, their newest member alone in his room.


	2. Katara's Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara confronts Zuko and he's forced to reveal another detail about himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of like this chapter, though I'm not too sure if It's too short or not... please let me know in the comments!

Zuko had nightmares. That was unavoidable. Even after three long years, he still woke up most nights panting and screaming, trying to escape the ever too clear picture in his mind. So, that night, Zuko took the blanket that the others had given him from his room, and tiptoed outside of the hall, to sit outside, away from the others. It was probably unavoidable that Toph would know where he was no matter how quiet he was, but he really didn’t need to wake anybody else up. He really hoped he didn’t. That was the whole point of sleeping outside: so that if he woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat like he often did, he wouldn’t wake anybody else up. The rest of them wouldn’t have to see another one of his weaknesses. He was willing to take the risk of somebody hearing him walk outside at unholy hours of the morning instead of annoying everybody with a stupid, stupid, nightmare. 

Because that’s what they were: stupid. It was stupid that even after so long, the nightmares still clung to him like a koala-bear to a tree. It was stupid that every time he got one, it was almost always the exact same as the last one. It was stupid that his weakness and shamefulness would be so apparent to everybody if he slept just a few meters closer to them. That was what brought Zuko to do what he did. 

He didn’t dare look around at the sleeping kids, lest they were awake and the two would have to make awkward eye contact. Zuko would also have to explain why he was leaving the inside of the temple at night while everybody else was sound asleep. Instead, Zuko quickly shuffled out, not daring to make a single sound. Once he managed to get past everyone and outside, the cool breeze ruffled his hair, and he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. As he lay down on the stone floor and put the fur blanket up onto his chest, he prayed Katara hadn’t heard him. Then he let the sound of the breeze carry him off into a peaceful sleep, one he hadn’t had in a long, long time. 

We already know that Zuko hasn’t really been having much of a stroke of luck lately. 

###

Katara had heard Zuko leave his room and go outside. Oh, she had heard him alright. She had a plan, though. Instead of calling him out right then and there, she decided to wait until the next morning when everybody else was present to confront him about it. That way, everybody else could see Zuko try to lie and get out of it, and she could be done with him. 

“So, Zuko, where did you run off to last night? You must have a rather good explanation for sneaking out in the middle of the night.” She started, while handing out bowls of fruit around the circle. Zuko looked up from his bowl. “Right after we let you stay with us.” The glare Katara shot at him made his stomach turn just a little bit. “You better not be plotting against us.” His chest tightened.

“It was nothing,” he muttered. He didn’t want to talk about this. Not right now, not ever. He didn't need to expose another weak part of himself to them. Not after last night. 

“It was nothing?!” She exclaimed. “How do we know you’re not signaling your crazy sister-” He flinched at the mention of his sister -“or even worse, your dad when you sneak off in the middle of the night, clearly trying to make it past us without waking anyone up?!” Zuko had a pained look in his eyes after he realized he would have to tell them the truth.

“I mean, I’m not sure if I would go as far as Katara, but you should have a reason for sneaking off that late…” Wow, now Aang sided with her too. Even Toph had a worried face on, one she probably didn’t realize she was holding.

“I wasn’t sneaking off!” He finally broke. Then his expression softened, realizing he had just let his temper get the better of him again. “Sorry, I- I.. get nightmares and didn’t want to wake anybody if I had one.”

“You really expect us to believe-”

“Truth.” Katara and Aang both looked at Toph and then shared a glance. Katara looked dumbfounded at the thought that Zuko might not be the big bad person as he let on to be. That expression quickly faded, though, when she came up with another pressing statement.

“Well- I didn't hear anything that sounded like a nightmare last night.”

“That’s because I didn’t have one. I just... wanted to make sure, since they’re.. really often.” Zuko looked down at this empty bowl now, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze. 

“Also truth.”

“We all get nightmares, Zuko. Trust me on that,” Sokka explained. He popped another berry into his mouth.

“Yeah, we’ve all been hit hard by stuff. You’re not the only one with some baggage.” Toph let her tough demeanor fade for a second. She was channeling her inner soft side, trying to explain to Zuko that he wasn’t the only one who had restless nights. 

“I don’t have baggage,” He huffed, turning away from them slightly. Aang and Sakka just exchanged a glance

“Zuko, it’s okay that you get nightmares. All of us do. It's just a part of life right now, and we would all just feel a little better if you slept inside. Please?”

“Yeah, Sparky, for me?” Toph batted her eyes in a way that made Zuko roll his. 

“Fine, but I can’t promise you that I’ll stay inside all night.” Zuko still didn’t raise his eyes, not wanting to see the group’s reaction to his reply.

“That's good enough for me!” Aang smiled at the apparent victory. Katara let out a scowl. She wasn't going to let go of this.

“So... when are we going to start firebending?” Aang asked, trying to break the tension between them all. 

“Uh, we can start now if you want. Usually, you’re supposed to wake up with the sun and start then, but I sort of… slept in today…” Aang perked up at the response.

“Great, let’s go then!” The pair then put away their bowls and headed away from the campsite, somewhere they wouldn’t have Katara’s glare looming over them. They soon found a pretty spread out ledge and decided they could start.

Katara stared Sokka down as he finished his bowl.

“Fine, I’ll watch them,” he said, rolling his eyes.


	3. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has an incident while training with Aang, and the rest of the Gaang wants to know what's going on with him. Unfortunately, Zuko's wall is still up though, high as ever, and nobody can seem to get them down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, I'm really sorry for not posting sooner!! I've been kinda really busy lately and am struggling with a bit of writers block. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, I still don't understand why so many people like this like... ?? Anyways I'm posting like 3 chapters today (crazy, I know), but I wanted to let you all know that chapters will be uploaded a little bit las frequently since I'll be starting a new project that I think is going to turn out really cool :) So yeah. Also, feel free to comment if you think I should make the chapters any longer or shorter, I'm kinda really clueless and would appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

Zuko had flinched. It was tiny and miniscule, and if you weren’t looking carefully, you might have missed it, but it was there. Sokka had seen Zuko flinch. 

Ordinarily, this would have been no big deal, as Zuko flinched all the time. In his daily life, he was so untrusting that flinching at the slightest word or movement was normal for him. But this time, Zuko and Aang were sparring. 

It was a crisp day outside, and the wind was just strong enough to balance out the humidity that threatened to take over, but not enough to make one shudder. Zuko and Aang were practicing firebending on the same ledge a few meters away from the campsite again, except this time, they started out alone, without any spectators. 

“So when can we finally start sparring?” Aang asked, a hint of a whine in his voice. “Why can’t we sparr right now?” Aang threw his arms down dramatically as he spoke. 

“Because you aren’t ready.” Zuko said as if it were rehearsed. Aang shot him a look that was so conflicted, Zuko didn’t even know what it entailed. 

“How am I not ready? I’ve mastered the breath like you told me to and I've learned enough offense and defense techniques to take on a mild firebender right now.” Zuko scoffed at the statement. 

“You couldn’t fight anyone with those moves. You’ve barely learned the basics.”

”Fine, maybe a firebender who hasn’t bended in a decade? I’ve still learned a lot in the past few days and I reeaaally want to try sparing with you.” Zuko turned away, seemingly contemplating for a second.

“Come one. What’s the worst that could happen?” Aang gave Zuko his best polar bear-puppy eyes as he pleaded.

“Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen?” Sokka but in. He sat down on the ledge, a few meters away from where they would be training. “Also, is it okay if I sit here? Toph’s off practicing earthbending with Haru, and Suki and Katara won’t let me near where they’re cooking.” It also just so happened that Zuko and Aang were practicing firebending shirtless. 

“Sure,” Zuko replied, tuning back to Aang. Aang noticed that zuko now had a faint blush on his cheeks after glancing at Sokka (who now had his hair down), but then went back to his original train of thought. “Please?” 

“Fine. I’m going easy on you, though.” Zuko waited a moment until putting his hands up to fight. Aang did the same. Sokka watched on as Zuko sent Aang a very simple blast of fire his way, Aang easily deflecting it. Aang sent an identical one back. This went on for a seemingly boring amount of time, until Aang decided to take a tiny little risk. He knew an airbending move that he was particularly fond of, and had mastered a few years before going into the iceberg. It consisted of sweeping one foot underneath one's arm, swinging into a handstand position, and then doing the same sweeping motion as before with the other foot upside down. Aang thought for a second as he deflected another fireball from Zuko. If you could make streaks with firebending when roundhouse kicking, what was stopping him from repeating the same airbending technique and just applying it to firebending? Would it work? He decided it was worth a shot. After all, there’s only one way to find out. 

Aang moved swiftly as he tried it. He made sure his legs were straight and neat as he quickly brushed his foot under him, and then went into handstand position. He was doing it. The flames sputtered from his feet and Aang smiled. Only when he tried to top it off with a blast of fire from his palm did things go wrong.

Zuko hadn’t anticipated that Aang would do such a move, much less top it off with a blast of fire. Because of this, Zuko went forward to try to take the offensive, and Aang also went forward for the fireblast. Zuko could feel Aang’s hot hand coming towards his face. The left side of his face. And then all of a sudden he was back there, where it all happened.

“Please father, Only had the Fire Nation’s best interest at heart. I’m sorry I spoke out of turn!” He cried. The looming shadow that he called his father made his way over to him, every step ringing in Zuko's ears.

“You will fight for your honor.” Zuko got down on his knees, struggling to take a breath.

“I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son!” He pleaded. He could feel the tears start to sting his eyes, his stomach churning.

“Rise and fight, Prince Zuko.” The voice was only getting closer, and time was only passing by quicker. 

“I won’t fight you.” His head still hung low, almost touching the ground.

“You will learn respect and suffering will be your teacher.” Zuko looked up. His father was now right above him, looking down with the same look of hatred Ozai looked at him always. Zuko's tears were falling freely now, and he couldn’t hide the pure look of fear on his face. 

“You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.” 

Zuko fell with a thump. His heart was still beating abnormally fast, and his breathing hitched in a way nobody except Uncle had seen him do before. Aang stood above him with a look of worry and confusion. 

“Um, what was that?” Aang held out his arm for Zuko to take. With a huff, Zuko refused and promptly made himself stand on his own.

“Nothing. You did well. You should eat breakfast now.” His heart was still pounding, but he looked away from the sorry expression on the other boy’s face.

“Um.. are you sure..?”

“You were the one that said you were hungry,” Zuko spat, unaware of the harshness of his voice. Sokka just stared with big eyes.

“Right… okay…” Aang hand rubbed the back of his neck a little awkwardly until he left. The two boys just watched as Aang walked away towards the campsite. After he was out of sight, Sokka turned to Zuko.

“So… what was that?”

“What was what?” Zuko’s tone was pretty unconvincing.

“You don’t have to tell me but… you know what I mean… the whole stumble… flinch.. thing…”

“Aang just has good aim. I underestimated him. That’s all.” Zuko didn’t look Sokka in the eye when he lied to him. Instead, he looked even more unconvincingly at the floor beneath him.

“Uh ok.” Sokka definitely didn’t want to push things. He had just gotten the boy to talk to him, much less trust him. “I’m here if you ever want to talk, though.” He put a hand on the other boy’s shoulder. Zuko winced. He muttered a practiced thanks as he walked away from the ledge, leaving Sokka alone with his thoughts.

Goddamn it. He doesn’t even trust me enough to talk to me. Something’s clearly bothering him. 

Sokka made it his mission to get through to the awkward firebender, whether he liked it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


	4. A Very Peculiar Stumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka tries to get Zuko to warm up to him a bit, but ends up with a hunting trip that may or may not result in them felling on top of each other and bringing home meat they found while trying to not be awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I honestly kinda really like Zukka so I think I'm going to start adding some in teehee. It's not blatantly obvious since the main driving point for this fic is Zuko dealing with his trauma/joining the Gaang, but I think I like having a subtle ship. Let me know if u like it or not because I'm honestly pretty bad at writing romance so yeah haha :)

Zuko and Sokka had gone out to fish for a while, while the others either trained or were doing things on their own. Sokka also wanted a chance to start warming up to the young firebender. Sokka still didn’t understand why he would blush when caught staring at the other boy- or why he stared at all- or why Sokka only cared about what Zuko thought of him, and nobody else, but it had been a while since he was relatively close to anyone his age that wasn’t his sister, much less another boy. That didn’t necessarily mean that he fully trusted the firebender… no definitely not. He had done too much to hurt them in the past. He couldn’t forgive anybody who had done so many horrible things so easily… right? Sokka told himself all of this as he walked deeper and deeper into the thick woods with Zuko alongside him. 

After a long time of just walking around and only the occasional glance being the only thing shared between them, Sokka decided to break the thick silence that hung heavily between them. 

“So… um,” he began. Wow, real smooth, Sokka. Before Sokka could beat himself up for being so awkward, Zuko spoke back.

“Yeah?”

“Nothing,” Sokka said again, moving his gaze away from the fire prince and back in front of them. “What do you uh… do for fun?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on. There’s gotta be one thing you do, or used to do in your free time.” Zuko looked up as in trying to think of something he could possibly call a hobby or interest. “I mean, I know I like practicing sword fighting.”

“You can fight with a sword?”

“Yeah, not sure if you’ve heard of him but ah… I studied with Master Piandao for a while, back when we were undercover in the fire nation…”Zuko looked at Sokka, bewildered. Sokka just looked back at him with pride and a smug smile on his lips. 

“I studied with master Piandao when I was little. That’s… cool.”

“Mhm, anything else you got?” Sokka pressed, trying to get Zuko to reveal at least one detail about himself. Why did the former prince refuse to open up to people? Sokka pondered on the thought for a moment until snapping back into reality. 

“Uh… I like theater?” Zuko said this less as a statement and more of a question. Sokka stepped in front of Zuko, cutting away at low hanging vines with his machete. Sokka stayed in front of Zuko now permanently, dismantling more and more vines.

“You like theater? Nerd.”

“I’m not a-” Zuko bumped into Sokka right as Sokka tripped over a rock on the floor and fell. The fall was anything but graceful, but Zuko landed right on top of Sokka, their eyes locking, brown on blue. Well actually, Zuko’s eyes were less of a brown and more like a gold or honey color, Sokka thought. They stayed in the position another second, and Sokka could feel Zuko’s hot breath on his neck. Before he had time to think in the moment though, Zuko got up with the same exasperated look in his eyes that Sokka had. 

“Sorry,” Zuko mumbled, his cheeks now red, as he continued to the river. Sokka had to run to catch up with him.

“It’s okay.” Sokka still had a small smile at the incident, his cheeks also flushed. God, Zuko looked so adorable when flustered. 

Wait… when did Sokka start to feel this way?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	5. Late Night Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty chill chapter, mainly just showing off the dynamic of Zuko & The Gaang while Zuko tries to avoid the topic of his panic during a late-night talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much to say other than the fact that this took an embarrassing amount of time to write, and that this is back in the POV of Zuko, since the last chapter was from the POV of Sokka. Hope you like it!

The rest of the day flew by pretty quickly. Before they knew it, the whole Gaang was sitting in a circle again, reminiscing on old times between the kids... that Zuko wasn’t a part of. Sokka was sitting on Zuko’s left, Toph on Zuko’s right, and when Aang had tried to sit in between Sokka and Zuko, Sokka became so stubborn he thought Sokka might have secretly become an earth bender. Nonetheless, though, Aang relented and with a smile from both Zuko and Sokka, sat on Sokka’s left. 

“Remember that time we got imprisoned by King Bumi and I had to complete those challenges for him to escape? That was fun.” Aang laughed. Zuko looked at him with his eyebrow raised, like he wanted to ask him what in the world they were talking about but couldn’t.

“Oh yeah, I was convinced he was a nutjob until he told you who he was,” Katara said back. 

“Who’s to say he’s still not completely sane? I mean that laugh? Kinda questionable…” Said Sokka. Zuko had had enough of being left in the dark now, though.

“Wait, what happened?” Zuko looked dumb founded as he listened to them all, and couldn’t help but ask what in the world they were talking about. 

“Well a few months ago, when we first arrived at Omashu, we got imprisoned by King Bumi, but we didn’t know who exactly King Bumi was. Anyways, he made me complete some of these kind of silly but also hard challenges, and then only then would he tell me that he was one of my oldest friends from 100 years ago,” Aang explained, the entire time, Zuko’s mouth agape. 

“Yeah, getting stuck in Creeping Crystal for a whole day was not how I expected things to go,” Sokka said. Zuko looked confused for a second, but then ignored the comment. 

“Wait so… King Bumi was your friend 100 years ago?” Zuko asked with disbelief.

“Still is!”

“Wow… that’s… interesting…”

“Yup, I officially have a friend who’s royalty!” Aang exclaimed, holding his pointer finger up to further show the idea, then putting it down as he came to a realization. “Well, actually, not including you, being crown prince and all… sorry…” Aang watched Zuko’s face go from a shocked smile back down into a frown. 

“It’s fine. I’m not really a prince anymore.” Aang hummed a timid response. “Actually, I wasn’t supposed to be crown prince to begin with. It was supposed to be my cousin, Lu Ten.”

“You have a cousin?” asked Sokka, now joining the conversation.

“Had. He died in the war a few years ago.” Zuko looked down. Now everybody was looking at him with pity in their eyes. Before he could call them out on it though, Aang spoke up again. “Anyways…”

“So I don’t mean to pry but… what was that at firebending practice earlier today? It seemed like you were pretty phased or whatever when I came in with that leg thing and blast of fire.” Aang asked, his eyes revealing his concern.

“You probably just underestimated Aang, even though I told you how easy it is to do that,” Katara said as she rolled her eyes. 

“Oh, uh… yeah. Yeah, that’s what it was.” Zuko hoped his lie wasn’t too obvious. 

“Uh… no, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that. You looked more… scared?” Sokka seemed to be reading the look of desperation on Zuko’s face and decided to step in before things got even worse.

“Uh, Zuko was probably just surprised,” Sokka said. Zuko gave him a look that said thank you. 

“Yeah, uh, you’re just lucky I didn’t breathe fire at you. That’s usually my first instinct now,” Zuko attempted at a joked to lighten the mood. The rest of them just stared at him though, mouths agape.

“You can breathe fire?!” Sokka exclaimed.

“Why can’t I breathe fire? I wanna know how to breathe fire too!”

“Why would you want to breathe fire?” Katara scoffed. It was clear she was trying to deter the attention Zuko was getting for his new skill away from him. She didn’t like that one of the only people she hated was getting praised by all of her friends. Zuko's voice was the only thing that pulled her out of her thoughts.

“You probably already can, since we learned from the dragons. Try it.” Aang opened his mouth wide and exhaled an exaggerated breath. Nothing came out.

“Are you sure you can breathe fire? I mean Aang being the avatar, I’m sure he should be able to master all bending styles…” Katara said with a hint of that cold voice she always used on him. The corner of Suko’s frown turned up at the comment.. 

“I’m pretty sure.” He then tilted his head up, exhaled out of his mouth, and then the air all around it and higher erupted in a poof of red and orange fire. He breathed fire. For a second, the rest of the kids looked stunned, like they didn’t really know what to do now they had that information.

“Woah.” Sokka gushed, breaking the silence.

“Sparky has a new talent. Too bad I can’t see it,” Toph said, rolling her eyes. She then punched Zuko in the arm, smiling gleefully. Even Katara looked like she didn’t want to murder him that second.

“Well, it’s not exactly new… Uncle taught it to me a few years ago, since it’s basically just a more advanced version of a basic move used to regulate your body temperature.” The tips of Zuko’s ears turned red now, him clearly not being used to being praised. He wasn’t used to being relatively supported by the people around him either, much less praised.

“Wait so… you could breathe fire before we met the dragons?” Aang asked with disbelief. 

Sokka remembered something his father had told him about breaths of fire being a tell-tale sign of a master firebender. “How does it feel being a firebending master, Jerkbender?” Zuko could feel himself blushing harder at the comment. But even then, he had to push back. He knew he wasn’t a master, and he couldn’t let himself think that. 

“I’m not a master. As I said, I’m barely good enough to teach Aang. That’s just a trick we use so that we don’t freeze to death every winter.” They looked at each other, then at Zuko. Zuko couldn’t tell what kind of expression was on their faces, but it was definitely something. Why was everybody so surprised though? It was just a trick he used to stay warm, not some fancy difficult form he had mastered. And why was everybody giving him those… comments? 

Zuko didn’t have the slightest idea why everybody was so nice to him at that moment, but for a split second, he let himself relax and relished it. For once, he wasn’t being told that Azula could do much more impressive things, or that his breath of fire didn’t change the fact that he was still just lucky to be born. Even the frown that Katara still carried and the way she refused to look at them all during this didn’t matter at the moment. 

Things might have actually been alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	6. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has a panic attack following a nightmare about his mother. Sokka helps him get through it.
> 
> TW: I describe a panic attack pretty deeply, which could be potentially be triggering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii! So. I haven't uploaded in a while teehee(sorry), but I'm finally going to get to the juicy stuff where Zuko meets Hakoda and all that. I just really needed a couple of chapters beforehand of Zuko and the Gaang, and still have quite a few more left. So yeah haha I have sort of a plan of how things are going to go but it's not very detailed, and I'm figuring most of it out on the way. Also THANK YOU guys SO much for all the kudos and comments!! I really didn't expect this to get even the slightest bit of attention, so it feels really good to know that like 200 ppl actually like my work haha. Anyways, I actually kinda like this chapter, and I hope you do too, enjoy!

Zuko knew that his good luck streak would have to end soon. It had been a week of staying at the Western Air Temple, and by some luck, he still hadn’t had a nightmare. Yet. Maybe it was the fact that this time he had chosen good instead of evil, or maybe because he was doing something in his life that he was actually proud of. Nevertheless, his nights were calmer since he joined the group, but it couldn't last soon. One of these days, he was going to wake up in a cold sweat again, and he would go right back to his regular schedule of restless nights and tired mornings. That was exactly what happened on his eighth night at the Western Air Temple.

He let out a blood curdling scream as he quickly sat upright in his bed. Within seconds, Sokka, Katara, Aang, and Toph were all in his room, trying to find the threat that had made Zuko scream with such anguish. 

“What happened? Where’s the attacker?!” Sokka cried, sword in hand. He had it already in the offensive position, as if he was anticipating somebody in the room to strike. Not some traumatized boy laying in his bed after what seemed to be a nightmare.

“Uh. Go back to sleep. Nobody’s here.” Zuko layed back down under his blanket and turned away from them.

“Umm what happened? Zuko, something had to have made you scream like that. What’s going on?” Aang actually looked concerned as he said this. No. Aang could never be concerned because nobody other than Uncle and Mother had cared about him like that. Mother was gone and Uncle- he didn’t let himself slip down that road again, and went back to answering Aang’s fake concern.

“Nothing. It was just a nightmare.” He hugged his pillow tighter as the rest of them all shared a worried glance. Katara was the only one who just rolled her eyes and exited the room with the swift turn of her heel. After a few seconds, the rest of them seemed to pick up that Zuko wasn’t going to talk anytime soon, and that they might as well just go back to sleep and ask about it in the morning. Yeah, that should work. They would all ask Zuko about it during breakfast and then they could find out what kind of nightmare could have Zuko awake in shambles and beads of sweat on his forehead. 

They were so deep in thought when they left that they didn't even notice that Zuko was still breathing too heavily, or that he was trembling now and couldn’t seem to stop. He pushed the blanket to his feet and got out of bed, trying to still his arms. He could feel his own heartbeat thudding in his body, thud, thud, thud, except it was too fast and now his vision was blurry from god knows what. Tears stung his eyes, and he leaned against the wall, sliding himself down with the extra support. He curled himself up into a ball instinctively. Breathe, he had to remind himself. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t because every time he tried to take a deep breath it felt like the whole world was crashing down on him. He couldn’t escape Azula this time, couldn’t save Mother, couldn’t find Uncle. Before he knew it, he was repeating the same cruel phrase that had etched itself into Zuko’s memory for years now. 

“Azula always lies, Azula always Lies, Azula always lies.” It was all too much. Breathe. He tried to picture what Uncle would have said. Uncle always knew what to say. 

“Zuko?” He heard a voice say. He didn’t look up as the voice moved closer to him. “Zuko, are you okay?” He recognized it as Sokka's gentle voice, and felt himself being pulled back into reality. He felt a hand touch his shoulder and finally looked up. “Woah, there. Try to breathe.” A moment passed by before Sokka spoke again. “In through the nose and out through the mouth.” Zuko did as he was told. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Can you name something you can touch?”

“The floor, the wall. My hands.”

“Okay. Good.” He had stopped trembling by then, but tears still streamed down his cheeks. He saw Sokka kneeling next to him, his eyes giving away his sympathy. “What’s wrong?” Zuko just cried a little harder at that and turned his head away in a grimace. It was a few moments before Zuko could compose himself enough to talk. Then he realized where he was. He was sitting on his bedroom floor, crying his eyes out next to Sokka. Sokka. God, he must look so pathetic right now. He wiped away his tears with the palm of his hand.

“It’s nothing.” 

“Zuko, it’s not nothing.” He felt Sokka take his hand and now he was just looking up at those big blue eyes of his. “Talk to me.”

No, no, no. He couldn’t just talk to him. He barely knew Sokka, and what was he doing, being so vulnerable in front of him? But wait, what was so bad about telling him? The ever-looming fact that if he wanted to, Sokka could just leave at any moment, and say he didn’t want this? That had happened time after time after time before, nothing was stopping him. But as Zuko kept looking into those bright blue eyes, those questions seemed to disappear right into thin air. He took a breath in. There was a thick silence before Zuko finally spoke up. 

“I miss my mom.”

And apparently that was enough for Sokka because before he could realize what was happening, he felt Sokka pull him into a hug, and now he could feel his head against Sokka’s chest, and his arms around him. He could feel Sokka’s heartbeat, still at a calm pace. Zuko let himself melt into the embrace. There was nothing said. There was nothing either of them needed to say. For the first time in years, Zuko felt truly safe.


	7. Sokka's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Sokka's point of view from the nightmare and panic attack that Zuko had.
> 
> TW: this chapter doesn't go as in-depth with the panic attack as the last chapter, but still has description of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uhhhhh... I haven't posted in a while? I got quite a few comments saying ppl were looking forward to the next chapter and it's been like a month(?) since I last uploaded... sorry... I was gonna upload like 2 weeks ago and then writer's block said NOPE and I just haven't been able to write?? Hope that makes sense. Anyways, I started a different fic in the meantime based on MuffinLance's Salvage and I kinda like it so that's pretty cool i guess? U could check that out (it's probably really shitty but oh well lmao). Anyways yeah I'm not really sure how to feel about this chapter but I hope you enjoy it!

Sokka’s POV:

Sokka woke up to the sound of a gut-wrenching scream. 

What was that? It sounded like it was coming from Zuko’s room. Oh no. There must have been some kind of intruder at the temple, that could have been a warning. Sokka prayed to Yue and La that it wasn’t Azula and her minions. Anything would be better than that crazy blue fire. He quickly jumped out of bed, grabbed his sword that was still leaning against the wall, and ran away from where the campfire had been last night, and towards Zuko’s room. Apparently, almost everybody else had heard the scream too, and were running alongside him as well. A few seconds later, he, Katara, Toph, and Aang had made it to the room, them kicking open the door.

“What happened? Where’s the attacker?!” Sokka cried, sword in hand. Then his eyes landed on Zuko. He was sitting upright in bed, still panting like he had just run a marathon. What had happened? 

Wait.

There was no way, no fucking way that Zuko had actually had a nightmare. No, Zuko was always the guy who chased them, he was the reason for their nightmares. How could somebody like Zuko have a nightmare, let alone one like that? 

And yet, Sokka put his sword down and felt something like sympathy. While Soka lost himself in his thoughts, Zuko laid back down under his blanket and turned away from them.

“Umm what happened? Zuko, something had to have made you scream like that. What’s going on?” Aang asked, a look of concern etched onto his face. Sokka looked over to Zuko and saw him stiffen under the covers. 

“Nothing. It was just a nightmare.” This was the one time Sokka absolutely hated that he was right. Sokka felt concern creep onto his face, while Katara left the room with a sigh. Why that-

Before he knew it, Aang and Toph were leaving the room, leaving just Sokka and Zuko alone in the room. And then Zuko started hyperventilating. 

It was decidedly not a pretty sight. Sokka watched Zuko lean against the wall by his bed and then practically collapse onto the floor. And then Zuko began crying, and Sokka had never seen Zuko cry when he was at the temple, let alone ever. Zuko curled in on himself, muttering something under his breath. 

That was enough.

Sokka snapped out of whatever thinking trance he was in, and rushed down to help. 

“Zuko? Zuko, are you okay?” Zuko finally finally lifted his head from his knees and looked up. Sokka felt something in his stomach lurch. Zuko’s eyes were puffy and trimmed red, a sight not so pleasant to see. He was also shaking on the floor, almost like a shiver. Except not. 

“Woah, there. Try to breathe. A moment passed by before Sokka spoke again. “In through the nose and out through the mouth.” Zuko did as he was told. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Can you name something you can touch?”

“The floor, the wall. My hands.”

“Okay. Good.” Zuko had stopped trembling by then, but tears still streamed down his cheeks. Sokka kneeled down next to Zuko. What could have him this shaken? For a moment, Sokka didn’t see Zuko, the man who had chased them through nations and beyond. No, he saw Zuko, the traumatized boy who had just woken up from a nightmare. So much for not getting attached.

“What’s wrong?” Zuko just cried harder at that. He suddenly wiped away his tears with the palm of his hand, and almost tried to fix his appearance. Like he had to fucking fix his appearance during a panic attack??

“It’s nothing.”

“Zuko, it’s not nothing.” He finally looked up again to meet Sokka’s eyes. “Talk to me.” The silence that took over Zuko at the sentence was heavy, threatening to leave it blank and consume them whole. Anticipation raced through Sokka’s bloodstream, straight to his heart. And then Zuko spoke.

“I miss my mom.”

And then Sokka was hugging him, with all of his damn might. Sokka was hugging him because he knew what it felt like to miss his mom, because he knew what it felt like to wake up from a nightmare alone, and because he knew that right now, Zuko just needed someone. 

Sokka didn’t go back to the campsite until he felt Zuko’s breathing even and felt his body lean completely against Sokka. He didn’t leave Zuko’s side until he knew that Zuko had finally fallen into the peaceful slumber he deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	8. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the incident of last night, Zuko deals with the aftermath of somebody actually listening to him, and the Gaang tries to get Zuko to open up to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! So it's been a while again since I last posted, but this fic is very much still active, so please enjoy this next chapter! There are a few self-deprecating thoughts because, you know, it's Zuko, but I don't think there's anything here that needs a trigger warning. Anyways, can anybody on this website PLEASE tell me how to write in italics here?? When I copy and paste it from docs, the italics never follows and it's really annoying since that's pretty important to the story. Anyway, I hope you like this!

Zuko awoke the next morning right at dawn, like always. He idly wished his body would let him sleep in for once, but alas, he could not. With a groan, he slowly opened his eyes and took in where he was. He was in his room, on his stiff bed, and wow, he actually had a blanket. Zuko had assumed that since he was already constantly on Katara’s bad side, he probably didn’t need to waste everybody else’s resources by taking up another bed roll as well. They were already letting him sleep so close to the others. So, he slept without one. On a cold, hard, slab of concrete. He survived, at least.

Oh.

Suddenly the events of yesterday came flooding into his mind, and oh god, oh god. Why had he let Sokka stay that long? Why didn’t he insist on Sokka leaving? This was pathetic. Sokka would now tell everybody else in the group, and now he wouldn’t be respected enough to actually teach Aang. Worse than that, when he walked in for breakfast, their eyes would all land on him and the pity in them would eat at Zuko over and over and over again. This was a nightmare. With a groan, he sat upright in his bed. This was not going to go well. Worst of all, now was when the pressing questions would come. Every single one of them would probably- no, surely- ask questions about his scar, the nightmare, and everything in between. Zuko prepared for the worst as he got out of bed and walked towards camp. 

Since the sun had only now risen, thankfully Zuko was the only one awake. Taking water from the fountain, he washed his face with the cool water, bringing the strands of hair that had grown to cover his face out of his eyes. Zuko looked at his reflection in the water. The scar was still there, like always. Zuko wondered for a moment how on earth Mai could have standed looking at him all the time. For her, it was like the scar was barely there at all. How could she do that? How could she look at him and see deeper than the marred flesh itself? Nobody had ever cared enough about him enough to do anything other than stare or remark about the scar in retribution except for her. And maybe Uncle. And Mom. 

He shot a fist of fire at his reflection and walked away. 

After walking away to the ledge where he and Aang usually trained, Zuko suddenly felt rage bubble up within him. Why had so many things had to go wrong for one thing to go right? In Zuko’s world, things almost never balanced themselves out. He finally did one good thing in his ‘lifetime of evil’ (Katara’s words), and now he had dumped a bucket full of his emotions onto one of the only people that was willing to listen to Zuko. He started going through his Katas, blast after blast after blast of flame. Soon enough though, Zuko wasn’t just pouring anger into his bending. No, he had quit doing that ever since the dragons. He was pouring every single one of his emotions into every blast of fire that left his body, blood pumping, and mind racing. His face was fixed in a permanent look of concentration as he went through each step of the process, loving every single minute of it. As he finished and took a fresh breath of air, he finally noticed the crowd that had accumulated behind him. Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Toph were all standing a few meters away from him, staring. Spirits, how long had he been training out here?

“Good morning!” Said Aang. He was smiling like usual, but something seemed off about him. His eyebrows were in a weird position, and he seemed almost… awkward? Aang was never awkward though, he was the epitome of an extrovert. “That was some good firebending sifu hotman.” Zuko just stood there and rubbed the back of his neck in response to the compliment.

“Right…”

Toph then took a step forward towards him. “We noticed you haven’t eaten anything yet today. Why don't you come back to the campfire and we can chat a bit while you eat.” Aaaand that was what Zuko was afraid of. 

“Um.. no thanks. I’m not really hungry..” Zuko tried his best to get out of it, he really did. But sometimes in life, you end up getting forcefully dragged to the campfire by a 12-year-old blind girl against your will. It’s not like Zuko could help it. 

“Seriously Sparky? Just come.” Toph then reached out to touch his shoulder and guide him back to camp. It would have been too optimistic to say that the group hadn’t noticed his flinch when she got close to his arms. Toph froze. 

“...What was that?...”

“I, uh-”

Zuko looked at Toph and saw something like concern. “Sparky- just...come.” Zuko followed them as they turned around and walked back to the campsite.

“Here,” said Sokka as he shoved a bowl of fruits into Zuko’s hands once they were back at the campsite. 

“Thank you.” Zuko wouldn’t admit it, but he gratefully accepted the offering of food. Before long, he was eating with much gusto, and the rest of the kids were just looking at him.

“So. What happened last night?” Asked Aang. “That really could not have been a normal thing for you… right?” Zuko frowned at that.

“It’s nothing. I just had a nightmare.”

“I know you’re lying,” Toph said. 

“I’m fine.”

“Zuko, you don’t have to-”

“I said I’m fine!” Aang was quickly shut down with the venom in Zuko’s voice that time. 

“Don’t yell at him! He’s just trying to help!”

“Katara!” Sokka but in. 

“I don’t need you all pitying me!” Zuko shot back. His voice was basically a shout now.

“Nobody is pitying you, and even if you were, you don’t deserve pity! Do you know how much harm you’ve caused-?!”

“Katara!” Sokka yelled at her again, louder this time. The other two were seemingly deaf to his words though. 

“I know that! You think I don’t know that?! I don’t need your pity-” he looked at Aang “-I don’t need you announcing when I’m lying-” he looked at Toph “-and on top of that, I don’t need you yelling at me because of a stupid nightmare! I thought you were all okay with me sleeping on the same floor as you all! If you want me to move, just say it instead of trying to pressure an answer out of me!” Everybody looked stunned at the outburst, even Sokka. With that, Zuko turned around and stomped back to his room.

Shoot. And he hadn’t even spoken to Sokka about the night before. Why did things never go his way, he thought as he sat down on his bed and reflected on the past few minutes. He was such an idiot.

_____________________________________________________________________

Back at the campfire, everybody watched Zuko walk away with their jaws hanging.

“Ugh! He’s so stupid!!” Katara yelled with her fists closed at her sides.

“Katara, what the hell did you just do?!”

“What the hell did I do?! Zuko was the one being such a baby and refusing to tell us about his stupid nightmare!”

“Did you ever think that maybe it isn’t the most pleasant thing to talk about a nightmare from the night before, Sugarqueen? Especially one that leaves you screaming?! You don’t think! And now, you just scared away a moody firebender when it isn’t even lunchtime!”

“So this is my fault?!! Sorry you all can't see it, but he’s not exactly a hurt kid. He’s done vicious things, and having one nightmare isn’t going to change my perception of him!”

“Katara!!” All eyes fell on Sokka as he spoke. “Did you ever think that maybe he’s not just an oh-powerful being that just likes to hurt people? Did you ever consider that maybe he has feelings too?? There’s a reason he has nightmares, and you can’t just keep treating him like a criminal because he won’t tell you about it!”

“I wasn’t mad about that, I was mad because-”

“Because he yelled at Toph, I know. Even then, do you know how many times you lashed out at people after Mom died? How many people have you accidentally hurt since then because of the things that happened to you? He’s a person too, and if you want him to open up to you, maybe try not yelling at him every time he does something you don’t like. I’m going to go check on him. Think about what I said.” And then Sokka was gone, off to see if Zuko was alright after the ordeal. Spirits, this was a mess.


	9. Zuko Does Some Explaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko explains some things to Sokka and the rest of the gaang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! so uh it's been awhile again lol. Anyways, I also am not very sure how I feel about this chapter of purely gay panic and angst but hey take it or leave it bitch <3 uh yeah, I don't really have much more to say at this point, but I hope you like this! (also i by no means proof-read this so sorry if it's a mess) ((ooh and also i only JUST figured out how to get italics to stay on AO3 so forgive me if my past chapters didn't really make as much sense without it LMAO))

“Zuko?” No response came after Sokka called out into the vast expanse of the temple, hoping to find Zuko. After some thinking and searching, he came to the conclusion that Zuko was probably in his room. Sulking, most likely, but still there.

“Zuko? Are you there?” He waited outside the closed door, not wanting to intrude if the teenager needed space. But maybe he was having another panic? Should he just go in-

The door suddenly opened, Zuko looking up at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, uh, Zuko! Hi..” The other boy did nothing at Sokka’s sudden awkwardness.

“Hey...” An uncomfortable silence stretched on for a split second, neither of the two really knowing what to do or say.

“Hey, so um. I wanted to talk to you. About what just happened.” Sokka saw Zuko nod mutely, and took that as an invitation to enter, Zuko closing the door behind them.

The last and only time that Sokka had been in this room was when Zuko was having a panic attack, and there wasn’t really much time then to pay attention to his surroundings then. He took in the things around him, eyeing even the small picture of his Uncle that was lying next to his bed.

“So, uh…” Zuko started. The words drew Sokka out of his thoughts and back to reality.

“Right, so uh… I’m sorry about what Katara said. You, uh- you didn’t deserve that..”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t matter.” Sokka didn’t need to have a seismic sense to know that Zuko was lying.

“Right… well, uh- I don’t want to pressure you or anything, and it’s like totally up to you- but uh maybe you should consider.. Telling them what happened? Like, you totally don’t have to and stuff but I think that it might uh… help.”

“Right…”

“Honestly I don’t really know what exactly happened last night either so…”

“Right…” Sokka looked at Zuko’s expression and  _ wow, he had nice cheekbones  _ but he also saw what seemed to be Zuko deep in thought, and mulling his options over.

“Well, uh.” Zuko’s eyes (or eye ?) were shifting from place to place as he talked, not really settling in one spot for very long. He would meet Sokka’s eyes briefly, but then be on their way again.  _ Huh. That was new.  _ “I had a nightmare, uh, which you already know. But it was about my mom. And I was kind of shaken up afterwards because you know it wasn’t pleasant and- yeah I think I had a panic attack?” He finally met Sokka’s eyes and held them there. “And then you calmed me down from it.” Sokka nodded at the explanation.

“Okay, good, yeah. I mean you don’t have to explain all of it but maybe just telling them the basics of what happened will satisfy them? Unfortunately everybody here likes to get in all up in your  _ business _ but that should be enough to shut them up I think...” A comfortable silence occurred for a moment after Sokka finished speaking.

“Okay. Yeah. I think I’ll… do that.”

“Okay, great!” Sokka let one of his lopsided smiles creep its way onto his face as he got up from the floor. “I’ll see you later, Jerkbender.” Zuko didn’t smile,  _ Tui and La, he never smiled,  _ but the corner of his mouth turned upwards a bit to indicate that he couldn’t be feeling too shitty at the moment. That was a win. 

Before he was all the way out the doors though, he spotted a holster and two blades laying in the corner of the room. His eyes widened with excitement.

“ARE THOSE DUAL DAO?!”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Why?”

“Ohmygod you know how to use them, right? Please tell me you know how to use them.” He knew the question was stupid,  _ why would Zuko be carrying around swords if he didn’t know how to use them,  _ but the words tumbled out of his mouth anyhow. 

“Yes, I know how to use them.” What was that look on Zuko’s face? Amusement? Sokka almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

“OhmygodZukowehavetospar!!!”

“...Okay.” 

At that, Zuko let himself get dragged into a secluded part of the temple to spar with Sokka. 

**********

After a few hours, when the two teenagers could see the sun lowering in the sky, they decided to stop sparring and call it a day. They were both slick with sweat but had goofy smiles plastered on their faces. Zuko didn’t know when he’d had that much fun, but it had to have been quite a while. After cleaning up and getting back to the main part of the temple, they both heard Katara yell “dinner’s ready!” from their rooms, and hurried outside for whatever food Katara had managed to get ready. Soon enough, they were all huddled around a campfire, sharing stories and laughing together. Well, except for Zuko. 

He hated the fact that if he spoke now, he would probably ruin the fragile good mood between the group, but if he wanted Katara to stop sending murderous glares his way every few seconds, he would have to make due. He cleared his throat, probably a little bit louder than necessary. The rest of them having realized that Zuko was trying to talk, the chatter and laughter around him seemed to die down until all eyes were on him. 

“So, uh. I wanted to talk about… last night. I know I didn't explain myself very well earlier, and I’m sorry.” Zuko looked around at the kids around him. They seemed to be paying quite a bit of attention to him, so he looked back down at the ground and continued. “Last night, I had a… nightmare.” Zuko shrinked back a bit at the revelation. “And I know I’m  _ far  _ too old to be having them, and if you want I can go back to sleeping on the other side of the temple again but… yeah. Sorry.” Zuko finally looked up again, only to see all shocked faces and slight frowns. “And the uh- panic attack after it was… nothing. It happens pretty often.” Well now the firebender just looked uncomfortable, squirming in his place on the floor. 

“Zuko…” Aang started “I didn’t know you had a panic attack afterwards. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It was… fine. There was no need for you to know. The only reason I’m telling you now is because I’m pretty sure I owe you an explanation after this morning..”

“Oh.” Was all Aang could say to that, his expression grim. “Well, we’re not making you go back to the other side of the temple. If someone has a problem with your nightmares,  _ they  _ can move.” Zuko cocked an eyebrow at the statement.

“Really?” 

“Yeah, I’m with twinkle toes. Your nightmares aren’t your fault. I’ll throw anybody who thinks otherwise off the side of the cliff.” Zuko seemed to sit a bit more comfortably at the words that flew out of Toph’s mouth so naturally. Sokka shot Zuko a wide smile, and surprisingly got a small one in return. Things were changing. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. At least Katara didn’t make any snarky comments in return to what any of them said.

Actually, for the next few days after that, Katara seemed almost a bit more… docile…

Hey, Zuko appreciated kindness but he took whatever he could get from the stingy teenager at this point. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: teehee I love you guys writing this fic and seeing the comments and kudos makes my day, I would never take any of u for granted <333  
> also me: lmao here's this shithole of a chapter for you to read every two weeks 
> 
> anyways yeah I hope you liked this!


	10. !!announcement!!

Hi guys! I just wanted to let everyone know that this fanfic is going to be on hiatus for a little while. I know that if you’re subscribed to this fic and just opened it from your email, you’re disappointed, but I promise it’s not going to be for too long. I’ve recently noticed the recognition this fic has been getting, and everyone in the comments has been really really sweet. Honestly writing this fic all together has been really great, and I’m obviously not going to stop. However, I do have some ideas for some other fics that I don’t think I can get to with the constant pressure to post here. I'm also having a really hard time motivating myself to do anything that's not absolutely crutial to my survival... Now, I know that I don’t even post that much or often for this fic, but I still never forget about it. That being said, I hope people don’t abandon this because I’m very much not! Just don't expect me to post for a little while and be on the lookout for any new fics I might write/update teehee. I hope everyone has a great day!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
